The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said that former President Goodluck Jonathan has not discussed with him any intention to contest the 2027 presidential election.
Wike made the statement during a media chat with journalists in Abuja on Friday, while reacting to reports that Jonathan was being pressured by political allies to rejoin the presidential race.
“You’re the one telling me that here. Jonathan has never told me he wants to run. He has never called me one day to say, ‘Look, I’m being pressured to contest; what do you think?’ If he calls me to ask, I will tell him my honest opinion,” Wike said.
He added that he doesn’t rely on media speculations to form conclusions, saying, “I will not assume something is true just because it appears in the newspapers — just like when they said I was flown abroad.”
Speaking on the reported emergence of Kabiru Tanimu Turaki (SAN) as the consensus candidate for the position of National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wike denied any involvement or knowledge of such an arrangement.
“I don’t know anything about Tanimu Turaki becoming chairman. Maybe he’s becoming chairman for another faction, it’s not the PDP I know,” he stated.
Northern stakeholders of the PDP had recently endorsed Turaki as their consensus choice ahead of the party’s national convention scheduled for November 15–16 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
However, Wike dismissed the planned convention as illegal, insisting he would not participate. “How do you expect me to attend a convention that, by law, I know it doesn’t exist?” he asked.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that former President Jonathan is facing mounting pressure from influential figures in the Niger Delta, including ex-militant leader Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), to drop any presidential ambition and instead support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.
Some of Jonathan’s associates and kinsmen have also reportedly advised him to stay out of the race and rally behind Tinubu for continuity.